Wilkerson, 31, signed a minor-league deal with the Red Sox this winter to compete for a job as a backup outfielder/first baseman after Mark Kotsay underwent surgery. He struggled through Spring Training, however, hitting below .200 and striking out in nearly fifty percent of his at-bats. He was assigned to AAA to begin the season, and accepted his assignment.

After his second game in AAA-Pawtucket, he informed manager Ron Johnson that he no longer had the fire and that his time in baseball was finished.

Wilkerson originally came up with the Expos in 2001. His best season was in 2004, when he hit 32 home runs and put up a line of .255/.374/.498. He finishes his career with 122 home runs, and a line of .247/.350/.440. Good luck in life after baseball, Brad.

Wilkerson, 31, was in camp on a minor-league deal, competing for the job of the fifth outfielder and backup first baseman. His contract allowed him to opt-out prior to April 1, which he elected to do after hitting just .119 through 42 ABs, with 18 strikeouts. The position battle will now likely come down to Chris Carter and Jeff Bailey, both of whom are having strong a strong Spring Training, hitting .350 and .357, respectively.

Julio Lugo says he’s in the best shape of his career. The $9MM shortstop won’t be happy if he’s on the bench this year. Speier believes he’ll ask for a trade if he doesn’t win the competition with Jed Lowrie. Lugo was following the Tigers trade rumors earlier this winter.

In a good piece by Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, Nats GM Jim Bowden says Stephen Strasburg is "as good a pitcher as we’ve seen in the draft in 10 or 15 years." He could be in the rotation as soon as September. Amusingly, Strasburg’s mother described Scott Boras, who is advising the phenom, as a "Rottweiler."

WEEI’s Alex Speier lists the Red Sox 19 non-roster invitees. 13 of them have Major League experience. Brad Wilkerson is also expected to be present.

David Lennon of Newsday.com reports that Omar Minaya has achieved his offseason goals. "The reality is that we’ve pretty much filled all our priorities," Minaya said. "I’m set to go with this team."

Phil Rogers touches on the absence of interest in Frank Thomas who is not working out while he’s out of camp. Rogers notes the Players Association needs to organize a spring training camp for out-of-work players. He suggests the White Sox abandoned Tucson complex.

MONDAY, 11:03pm: MLBTR has learned tonight that the Red Sox have signed outfielder Brad Wilkerson to a minor league deal with roster and playing time incentives. Wilkerson, 31, hit .220/.308/.326 in 309 plate appearances for the Mariners and Blue Jays in 2008. The Ms signed Wilkerson last year for $3MM but designated him for assignment before May.

On this date 32 years ago, commissioner Bowie Kuhn suspended Braves owner Ted Turner for one year for tampering. Turner had announced publicly that the Braves would sign free agent-to-be Gary Matthews. Unfortunately, 30 years later, nobody was disciplined when the Angels signed free agent Gary Matthews Jr. to a $50MM contract. In the first two years of the deal, Matthews has been paid $15MM and his play has been worth -$600K (yes, that is negative) according to Fangraphs. With several big free agents still looking for new teams, will any of them be the next Matthews Jr? Only time will tell. In the meantime, let’s see what is being written in the Blogosphere…

The Eddie Kranepool Society is not worried about Derek Lowe, feeling the deal will get done once the Mets add a fourth option year and sweeten the pot just a tad. They are also putting the Mets front office on notice about the possibility of letting Manny Ramirez slip through their fingers.

Mets Geek feels the Mets still need to add one more piece to their revamped bullpen and suggest Wil Ohman or Joe Beimel are better options as a lefty specialist than what is already in-house.

The Southpaw takes a look at some young players the Jays should try to target in the trade market, with Chin-Lung Hu at the top of the list.

My Baseball Bias is not satisfied with just Mark Teixeira and wants to see the Yankees sign Manny Ramirez.

River Ave. Blues says the Yankees are too smart to sign Wells and then goes on to list about 87 pitchers that should be given a shot in the Highlanders’ rotation before Wells.

Redlegs Rant feels that Ken Griffey Jr. is behind the recent stories that speculate on him being traded.

Mariners Central speculates on some of the names that it might take to land Ken Griffey Jr., noting that the M’s are not likely to part with either of their top two prospects, Wladimir Balentien and Jeff Clement.

The Tribe Time Report sees plenty of holes in Buster Olney’s recent theory that Garret Atkins would be a good fit for the Indians.

Brewers Nation agrees with Olney that the Brewers should trade Ben Sheets.

Sox & Pinstripes doesn’t want to just give away Julian Tavarez but they also note that the bullpen needs help and Tavarez isn’t the answer.

Batter’s Box says Brad Wilkerson should fit in well with the rest of the Jays lineup, which also lacks the ability to hit for average or power.

One writer at Fanhouse doesn’t understand why Kevin Towers is so disappointed in the play of Jim Edmonds. They feel it was pretty obvious that the Pads were getting a player well past his prime.